Looks like a good week for comics. A lot of variety, but not too many that look like must have books. Still, there's some Iron Fist loving, so I can't complain too much. Invincible is supposed to ship this week according to Diamond, but Image's site has it listed for next week. I left it off the previews because of that, but if it does actually come out, I'll be picking it up. Enjoy the previews!
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #4Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Julian Lopez and Bit
Green Arrow joins the Outsiders! But is the Emerald Archer's induction into Batman's new squad cause for celebration…or destruction? And with Green Arrow's recent run-ins with the League of Assassins, how will he react to having their former leader — Batgirl — as his teammate?
Kirk Says: Despite all the controversy over the change in creators just before the launch of this book, it's still managed to be surprisingly good. It's not a top tier book, but there are worse things you could spend your money on. One thing I'm curious about is Ollie's inclusion. Is this before or after Connor was rendered brain damaged by a rogue cloud over in Black Canary / Green Arrow?
CABLE & DEADPOOL #50Written by Reilly Brown & Fabian Nicieza
Art by Reilly Brown
SERIES FINALE! Alien symbiotes plus dinosaurs equals what? A threat unlike anything you've ever seen! The dreaded VENOM SYMBIOTE has multiplied, and made some new friends of the prehistoric variety, giving the Merc with a Mouth his final opportunity to prove himself the ultimate hero -- or the ultimate villain! Guest staring SPIDER-MAN! The FANTASTIC FOUR! The MIGHTY AVENGERS! And of course, those lovable goons from AGENCY X!
Kirk Says: I can't believe this title is being cancelled. It's been so much fun, especially over the past half a year or so with Cable out of the book. On top of that, they are cancelling this funny, irreverant and highly entertaining book and relaunching it with one written by Daniel Way, of Wolverine Origins infammy. Blarg.
CATWOMAN #76Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez and Alvaro Lopez
In the underbelly of the Hell Planet from SALVATION RUN, Catwoman will have to fight through her turbulent past, her nightmarish present and a doom-filled future. The only person who can save her is the last person she'd expect to see this far from home: the Batman!
Kirk Says: I'm going to sound like a broken record, but Catwoman is one of the best titles coming out of DC. Has been probably since Brubaker and Cooke first relaunched it. This editorial mandate for her inclusion in Salvation Run seemed to spell the end of this book on my pull list, but the first part was quite good. Far better than anything the four issues of SR has given us so far. However, I'm not sure how long anyone could keep up the quality when tied to that dead weight of a storyline, but hopefully this book makes it through in tact.
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #10Story by Paul Dini
Story consultant: Keith Giffen
Script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Ron Lim and Mark McKenna
With the recent devastation behind them, the new Challengers return to our universe to face their next challenge. Also this month: a returning hero, a surprising future for Pied Piper, and Karate Kid fulfills his destiny.
Kirk Says: After the incredibly entertaining Monarch / Monitor War, we've been overrun with DC's attempt to wrap up the Amazon and Mary storylines while it rushes the conclusions of all the other storylines into place. It's still leaps and bounds above the first half of this book's rocky start, but it all feels like anti-climax after the war on Earth-51. I've been here this long, so I'll be sticking it out until the end, but I hope they have something to offer us in the form of a conclusion. Having this just end with a "continued in Final Crisis this summer!" will be a huge slap in the face if they go that route.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST: ORSON RANDALL AND THE GREEN MIST OF DEATH #1Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Mitch Breitweiser, Chris Brunner, Lewis Larosa and Russ Heath
Mothers, lock up your daughters when we revisit the continuing adventures of that dashing rogue, Orson Randall, the Golden Age Iron Fist! The last time we flashed back to the life and times of Orson Randall, in the much fan-loved and critically acclaimed IMMORTAL IRON FIST ANNUAL, readers unlocked several secrets affecting Danny Rand, the Iron Fist of today. Now get ready for more! We promise you spine-tingling chills, ass-kicking action and pulp-fiction adventure like you’ve never seen, featuring gorgeous flashback art by Mitch Breitweiser, Chris Brunner, Russ Heath and Lewis LaRosa! Orson Randall goes head-to-head again and again versus none other than…the endlessly mystifying and unstoppably powerful Prince of Orphans! How will their battle through the ages echo in the life of Danny Rand?! You bet your kicked butt it has everything to do with the kung fu tournament of death unfolding in the pages of IMMORTAL IRON FIST!!
Kirk Says: That is one heck of a lot of artists for one book. It makes me a bit nervous about the quality of said art for this book. Don't get me wrong, I'm pysched for more Orson and can't wait to see more of the Prince of Orphans, but I'm getting the feeling it's going to be one bloody mess when it comes to the art. Hopefully I'm wrong about it, but I doubt it, especially since I don't recognize any of their names off hand.
IRON MAN #26Written by Daniel & Charles Knauf
Art by Roberto De La Torre
All paths have led to this: the inevitable showdown between Iron Man and the Mandarin!
As the man behind the mask, Tony Stark’s life has hit rock bottom. His plans for the super hero Initiative have hit a tragic snag. His former flame, believed dead, is being manipulated by one of his deadliest enemies. Even to his strongest allies, Stark appears to be descending into a mental breakdown while everything around him swirls out of control. Now, with the lives of millions hanging in the balance, Iron Man must fight his way out of the darkness and prevent the Mandarin from releasing a plague that would change humanity as we know it!
Kirk Says: Since Civil War ended, Iron Man has been incredibly strong and is approaching a Captain America level of quality. I'll admit the book isn't for everyone, as it's a grittier, less super hero, more political / SHIELD facet of Tony oriented book, but it's damn fine at what it's trying to do. Last issue set the stage for the much anticipated Mandarin story and I'm pretty pysched about this issue's confrontation. Tony's pimped out in his old armour and it just reminds me how much I hate the more anime influenced armours, like the Extremist model.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #18Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Alan Burnett
Art by Ed Benes and JonBoy Meyers
WITNESS THE JLA'S BATTLE WITH THE SUICIDE SQUAD!
The Justice League Vs. the Suicide Squad for the salvation of the Earth's villains! Plus, more on Vixen's power flux.
Kirk Says: DC's continuity is so screwed up these days. I thought Marvel was bad with the Brand New Day, Back in Black, WWH and Avengers stuff, but books like JLA are just so far behind and out of sync with other books, it's not funny. Case in point, the last few issues have dealt with rounding up villains for Salvation Run and dealing with the Suicide Squad. Ya, half the Squad is on the prison planet already and Salvation Run has been going on for almost half a year now, but, hey, a tie-in's Best Before date never expires, right? Plus, Superman could take down the entire Squad in like 10 seconds flat. Yawn.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #9Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Mark Bagley
DOCTOR DOOM!! The Avengers invade Latveria to take down Doctor Doom for his chemical attack on America. Only maybe it wasn't Doom exactly. It’s wall-to-wall mayhem as Mark Bagley joins Avengers writer Bendis in this globe–trotting spectacle filled with hints about next year’s SECRET INVASION!
Kirk Says: DOOM! Finally, we get to see Bagley drawing something other than symbiotes. While this book is seriously out of sync with the rest of Marvel's timeline, I don't lump it in with JLA, as this book's problem was ass related and Cho's inability to draw them quick enough. Regardless, I don't see how the Avengers have any right to go after Doom for the symbiote attack. He didn't really do anything. Stark's clean up crew messed with one of his satellites and caused it to launch. Also, if Doom has a time machine, why not go back a few days and stop the satellite from launching the attack? Argh, time travel. I guess it's best use is going back and having some quality 'alone time' with naked Morgan la Fey.
ROBIN #171Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Chris Batista and Cam Smith
Violet's shady spoils are piling up as fast as Robin's girl troubles…and he's dealing with some spoils of his own.
His all-nighters are sending his relationship with Zoanne off the rails — literally — and his visions of Stephanie around every corner have to be just that…right? Meanwhile, two of Gotham's finest want to get in on the super-hero racket with Robin's help, when Robin likes it or not!
Kirk Says: Dixon's return to Robin was a solid outing. Nothing spectacular, but a lot of ground layed and it looks like it could be another great run on this book for him. I'm mostly picking it up for the Spoiler stuff, but last issue was a good jumping on point if you have any interest in the character.
RUNAWAYS #29Written by Joss Whedon
Art by Michael Ryan
“DEAD END KIDS”
The Runaways find themselves in the middle of a super-powered gang war in 1907! To make matters worse, two figures from the Runaways’ past show their faces. Mr. and Mrs. Yorkes don’t believe that the Runaways played such an innocent role in their daughter’s death. Heads will roll! Part 5 (of 6)
Kirk Says: I buy this out of habit more than want. Whedon has been terrible on this book outside of the random scene, like Molly punching the Punisher or other random one liners. I don't even care about the non-story he's crafting here and the delays don't help. Writing delays, outside of illness or whatnot, should not happen. You either have a story lined up and ready or you don't. How you get a gig on a book without any story outlines or drafts is a mystery to me, so it's just plain laziness that's killing one of the formerly best books from Marvel.
ULTIMATE X-MEN #91Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Salvador Larroca
All hail Apocalypse! Last issue saw Sinister squirm from the grave—and now the evolutionary emperor known as Apocalypse has arrived! Superstarr artist Salvador Larroca continues his run here – as the threat to the X-Men kicks into overdrive!
Kirk Says: UXM is like a car crash. It's so bad, you know you should look away, but you keep turning back to look anyways. I guess Larroca's art could add some spice to this book, but I don't even know why I'm still here, to be honest. This book hasn't been good since BKV left. Even that wasn't overly spectacular.
WWH AFTERSMASH: WARBOUND #3Written Greg Pak
Art by Leonard Kirk
When the Hulk's deadliest enemy takes the lead, only the Warbound can defend the puny humans from his wrath. But can our heroes' oath to stand by each other to the end survive — when one of the Warbound themselves threatens to become the biggest monster under the deadly dome of Gammaworld?
Kirk Says: I think I like the Miek backup stories more than the actual book, which is merely good. Still, nice to see these characters getting some limelight and not just brushed under the rug after WWH.
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5 comments:
are you kidding? the extremis armor is pretty much the only iron man suit that doesn't look retarded.
Well, the Extremist isn't terrible, I guess, but I think it stems more from how it's always displayed. People just pulling the helmet off, how it looks like a bunch of pasted together plates most of the time and generally how weak it's portrayed. I'd swear the original armour stood up to more punishment than the Extremist version.
In one interview (I don't remember who was interviewed) that I read in Newsarama about Countdown To Final Crisis, DC said that the original plan was to reach Countdown #0, but the story would end in a cliffhanger tied directly to Final Crisis and it could disapoint a lot of readers (and they are right, I think).
So now they are ending Countdown with #1 and they are resolving all the stories in that number and leaving the series closed, instead CTFC #0 they created "DC Universe #0" which is being co-written by Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison. In this issue they will take the elements from Countdown and will introduce new ones that will lead directly to Final Crisis.
I forgot to mention that DC Universe #0 will cost 50 cents.
I blame Michael Ryan for the slowness of Runaways...his recent track record combined with Whedon's busy schedule is to blame...get on the ball. This issue was great and I can't wait for the next one...I only hope the next team treats this book like the gem that it is.
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